


Nightmares

by SemperAeternumQue



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Adoption, Elrond has abandonment issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Families of Choice, Foreshadowing, Gen, General Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I mean, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kinda, Maedhros just has issues, Nightmares, Poor Elrond, Sad, but you can't really blame him either, can you really blame him though, foresight is not a fun gift to have, it's Maedhros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 01:30:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SemperAeternumQue/pseuds/SemperAeternumQue
Summary: Ages apart, two sons comfort two fathers.





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> So, second work on the Archive, and I think I'm getting the hang of these tag things. 
> 
> I am going to say right now, Maedhros is not in a good place mentally, and this is fairly dark, so look after yourselves. I don't think it should be too bad, but there is some dark foreshadowing. (Foresight is really not a fun gift to have.) 
> 
> Anyways, I welcome all feedback! I'm a new writer and I want to improve, so leave feedback! What did you like? What could be improved? Please, leave a comment! Or if you don't have time for a comment but still liked it, a kudos! I'm open to all feedback.

_It begins with a father. He stands before the court of Tirion and declares dreadful words of rebellion against the Valar. And they are in Alqualonde, and the father is raising his sword against the Teleri. And they have gone across the sea, and the father is lighting a torch and the boats are burning._

_And then it is the father who is burning, lit on fire by a Balrog._

_And it is Maedhros burning as Sauron presses a brand into his skin._

_And it is Fingon burning, crushed beneath Balrogs._

_And it is Caranthir and Celegorm and Curufin burning on a pyre after Doriath, smoke spiraling up through the trees._

_And it is Amrod and Amras burning on the best funeral pyre they can manage in the ruins of Sirion._

_And he is burning burning burning, and he is watching the others burn. Fingon and Caranthir and Celegorm and Curufin and Amrod and Amras and Feanor. Burning and burning. “You deserve all this and more.” Sauron whispers in his ear. “They burned and hurt worse than you.” He presses the brand further into Maedhros’s side._

_And Maedhros can do nothing but watch as Maglor and Elrond and Elros take the places of Fingon and Amrod and Amras, Maglor struck down by Balrogs, Elrond and Elros burning on a pyre like the twins who died to conquer their home. “All you love will meet the same fate.” Sauron whispers. “You will be their downfall.”_ No! _He tries to say._ Elrond and Elros do not deserve this! _“Ah, but they will have it.” Sauron presses the brand further yet and Maedhros screams-_

“Atar?” A voice breaks through Maedhros’s dream, quiet and young. “Atar, are you okay?” He sits bolt upright to see a concerned face at the end of his bed. It takes him a minute to calm down the fight or flight reflex at having an unfamiliar figure in his room, but once he does he sees that it is only Elrond. He opens his mouth to tell Elrond it was just a dream, but he cannot speak around the lump in his throat, from fear or sorrow, he does not know which. Elrond scrambles over the length of bed separating them and holds Maedhros gently. “You’ll be okay, atar.” Maedhros does not have the heart nor the words to tell Elrond that it is not himself that he is worried about. Instead, he buries his face in the young peredhel’s shoulder and weeps.

When Elrond finally speaks, his voice is fearful and young, in sharp contrast to the assurance with which he holds Maedhros. “What is wrong, atar?” If Maedhros was thinking straight, he would come up with a comforting lie, but he is not. So he tells the truth. “I had a nightmare. You and Elros and Maglor were burning. I couldn’t do anything.” Elrond presses closer to him. “We’re not going to burn.” He assures Maedhros. Almost too quiet for Maedhros to hear, he adds: “You will burn.” If it was anyone else, Maedhros would count that as a threat. But this is Elrond, so Maedhros knows it is not.

“Can you tell me why you say that?” Maedhros asks. Elrond shakes his head. It is dark, but Maedhros can still see the fear on the Elrond’s face. “Please?” Maedhros asks. He searches his memory for what nicknames he has heard Maglor use to persuade the twins to do things. “It’s okay, pia ilmanya. You can talk to me.” Whether it is the reassurance or the nickname that helps, that seems to do the trick. Elrond snuggles close to Maedhros. “I dreamed you burned. You fell into one of those gaps in the earth.” His voice is even quieter and more afraid than before, and Maedhros seeks to reassure him once more. “I’m not going to burn.” Elrond looks right at him with tear-filled eyes. “But you will.” He crawls into Maedhros’s lap, and no matter how hard Maedhros tries, that is the last thing he says tonight.

Eventually, Maedhros falls asleep, lulled by the warm weight of an elfling against his chest, and come morning, that is where Maglor and Elros will find them.

 

_It begins as it so often does, with a golden-haired ner and a dark-haired nis talking quiet but intense in the corridor, unaware of the elfling listening in. “You would abandon us for this?” The dark-haired nis demands. The ner flinches. “You do not understand, Elwing. If I do not do this, we will not survive.”_

_“What of the children? What about me?”_

_“You will all survive without me.”_

_“What if the Kinslayers come?”_

_“They will not._

_“Please stay.” Elwing begs. “I will come back.” Earendil promises. But he doesn’t._

_Then the Sons of Feanor have come, and Elwing is falling from the tower, a goodbye for the sons she abandoned on her lips_

_And then it is Maglor saying goodbye before he walks away from them at Gil-galad’s camp, never to return._

_And it is Maedhros whispering a goodbye as he falls into a fiery chasm, unable to face the twins who screamed ‘I hate you’ to his face._

_And it is Elros saying goodbye, dying of nothing but simple old age, beyond the aid of even Middle Earth’s greatest healer._

_And it is Celebrimbor rasping a goodbye as he dies beneath Elrond’s hands, having been captured and tortured by Sauron._

_And it is Gil-galad saying a last goodbye before the final battle of the war, knowing he will fall this day._

_And it is Celebrian crying her way through a goodbye, unable to look him in the eyes as she tells him she must sail._

_And they are all there, and they are falling and bleeding and dying, and Elrond can do nothing. He is helpless as they leave him again and again. Elwing falls and Maglor leaves and Maedhros jumps. Elros draws his last breath and Celebrimbor is dying in his arms. Gil-galad is being struck by that mace and Celebrian’s ship sails away._

_All the images blend together, and then it is Glorfindel falling into a chasm, Erestor walking away from him, Arwen dying of old age, Elladan wounded mortally, Elrohir saying goodbye at the docks-_

Elrond is awoken by a small voice. “Ada? Are you okay, ada?” He gasps, drawing in a ragged breath. Estel is sitting at the foot of his bed, looking very young and innocent. Elrond tries to reassure the young human, but all that comes out is a sob. Estel crawls up to him and gives him a hug. “It’s ok ada. I’m here.” Elrond buries his face in the child’s shoulder. Estel pats him on the back just like Elrond does when Estel needs comfort. “It’s okay ada. I’m here.” Estel promises again. Elrond says nothing, too overwhelmed by what he dreamed.

Eventually, Estel asks “What’s wrong, ada?” His voice is uncertain, as it well should be. Elrond remembers well the terror of a parent suddenly not being strong, and he strives to be less fragile. Somehow, he summons up enough composure to keep his voice steady as he tells Estel “Just a dream.” The young mortal looks at him with all the wisdom of a child. “Oh. I have bad dreams too, but they’re just dreams, ada.” He smiles innocently.

That does not reassure him, for therein lies the problem. Elrond’s dreams are rarely just dreams. Most hold a bit of the future. Even his nightmares have a disturbing habit of coming true, and Elrond is afraid this one will be no different. Estel must have picked up on his fear, for he pats Elrond gently in reassurance. “It’s going to be okay, ada.”

Elrond knows it will not.

But Estel is still young, so Elrond does not voice his dark thoughts. Eventually, both young mortal and elf-lord fall back to sleep, and that is where they are come the gentle light of dawn.

**Finis**


End file.
